The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-01-25

Delllsneu Wltn the most astonishing de-
signs. and all the other paraphernalia
suited to the place. clean, orderly and
empty. had a few cakes i'm nv bag
which had brought for RObbie's lunch
on the way, and these | gave him
for his supper, making up my mind
that. in the morning. | would try and
find the nearest neighbOr.
Meantime, the short wintry twilight
had closed into darkness. and the fields
were already white with snow. | found
piece of candle. but did not light it.
lest we should need il more at some fu.
ture time. So / law down on the old
chintz sofa. with Robbie clasped close
in nv arms, and we both soon fell
asleep. When | awoke the room lay
i'm gray twilight. while the storm
still ragged furiOusly without Cropping
my way TO a window, for glance at
the weather, | discovered that the win
dow was blocked up with an embank-
ment of snow. and that the other two
were i'm a similar predicament, a small
aperture at the top of one OF them let
ting i'm few rays of light. Then, and
only then, did the real horror of our
situation present itself to me. We were
in danger of starvation The house
stood in a hollow, and the snow had
drifted down from the neighboring
hills, making escape impossible. In
nv agony | had no hope that my
friends would End us out: | had COW
cred our tracks too cleyerly. No
earthly help seemed likely to reach us.
and there. in the gray light of the New
Year morning. | fell upon my knees
and sobbed out Il prayer To Hum who
see us wherever we are, for help and
forgiveness.
MY dears. can never forget that
New Years Day. How Robbie begged
for food, and half starved, had before
me the vision of well-Set table. with
all the delicacies which always graced
our board at home TO whet my appetite;
how, when the wood WAS gone broke
up the chairs and burned them: and
now the candle, which | had lighted
to please Robbie, burned low in Its
socket, and finally left Us in the semi
darkness which never frightened into
noon. All day long the storm ragged
furiously. | could hear the hollow
means of the wind. and the sweep of
the snow as il drifted still higher
against the house. i had little time
for reflection, however. for it took all
my ingenuity To amuse Robbie, who.
hungry and frightened. begged con-
stantly to be taken home. All that
long, wretched day told stories, sang
songs, and played games with him.
while | comforted him and myself ever
and anon with the oft-repeated fable:
Aunt Dclilah will come Tomorrow.
Just before night-fall he fell asleep.
and walked restlessly up and down
the room, planning ways of escape
from my self-Sought prison. But all
my schemes, on second thought, an
peared impracticable. To burrOw
through these drifts. with Robbie i'm
my arms, was impossible; We should
both perish. Had the house been on
the highway, there would have been a
chance that soon or late we might hail
some passing traveller. But. alas. i
remembered that only the roof was
visible from that standpoint. Long
pondered over the embers of the last
chair, racking NV tortured brain for a
suggestion which might solve the prob
At last the GOODNESS of the atmosphere
drove me into the next room in search
of more chairs or other cOmbustible
material. This apartment contained.
among other articles of furniture, an
old-faShioned bureau. Its brass trim
mings cleaned through the darkness,
and arrested nv attention, and. obey
ing an impulse ! never could account
for, opened one of the drawers. 1t
contained collection of linen. proba-
bly, woven by Aunt Delilah herself.
In a moment "A brilliant idea came TO
my mind, and, selecting a piece of the
linen, CROPPED about III search of ink.
Failing TO find this, | took dish of
stove polish as a substitute, and. with
the aid of a stick, traced upon the
white cloth, in mammoth letters, the
word Help. This | fastened TO the
broom-handle i'm the form of a flag.
and then, with faSt-beating heart,
stumbled up the short. steep stairs
leading to the attic. where fortune
favored my design by a gap in the
roof.
Through this opening pushed my
signal, the brushy part being large
enough To form its own fastening.
Then | retraced my steps in a hurry:
for the rats were scampering about.
and the temperature was below zero.
paused one moment at the window al
the head of the stairs To look ont on the
universe of sky and snow then
turned away heartsick. Oh, where was
Aunt Delilah? | was destined TO OBJ
tain the desired information sooner
than | had anticipated. On reaching
the room below, was engaged in re-
placing pieces of the linen which had
scattered about. when / was attracted
by the glitter of something metallic.
Ii proved to be a small silver plate
bearing an inscription. Taking it close
to the window, managed TO decipher
the words: